6 'Can't Miss' Conferences For Entrepreneurs In 2018

This is the fourth annual appearance of this column, which has ranked as one of my most popular postings in 2017, 2016 and 2015. Today I’m providing a list of “hidden gem” networking and educational events in 2018 for entrepreneurs. I’ve made these picks with an eye toward high networking and learning benefits for entrepreneurs who are seeking great mentors, new funding and innovative ideas for PR.

This is an unofficial list I’ve created on the basis of quality of attendees, avoidance of hard selling, social responsibility, and positive results for those who’ve attended. I have personally attended and spoken at CEO Space. As disclosure, I’ve served in an unpaid role as a faculty member in years past and joined the December event in 2017. I am slated to be a keynote at the C3 Conference on March 7-8 and for the first time, I plan to attend the Small Giants conference this year. I have not personally attended the Gathering of Games, the Forbes Under 30 Summit or No Longer Virtual (though I would like to attend NLV if possible in February of this year).

On these notes, my picks are as follows:

1. CEO Space. Now in its 30th year, this event is billed as a business growth accelerator conference. It addresses entrepreneurs of all ages at its five annual 5-day events, located from December 2017 forward at the Innisbrook Resort in Tampa, Fla. Traditionally, the benefits of CEO Space have included Total Capital Education on topics ranging from legal compliance to investor presentations, tax and strategic planning, marketing, branding, social media and sales. All presenting faculty members are vetted for verification as Subject Matter Experts through a due diligence process conducted by Avent-Guard.com. Moving into 2018, however, the organization is stepping up its game to another arena. In an interview with CEO September Dohrmann, she highlighted the following milestones for 2018:

CEO September Dohrmann and Founder Berny Dohrmann are the husband and wife team behind CEO Space International.Roxanne Morganti Photography

The institution of a new board and re-vamped club president and sales programs that the company anticipates will result in 400 percent community growth in 2018.

A new online directory and Membership App increases members’ ability to network between forums.

New members and initiatives in arenas that include cryptocurrency, nano-treated coal for clean energy, hydrogen energy, super water for better hydration and a spectrum of medical innovations.

Additional financing sponsors and partners.

Increasing strength as an advocate for entrepreneurs and small business to the Federal Government in support of crowdfunding, tax legislation and political cooperation towards business.

An increasing faculty with new experts in branding, marketing, media, publishing and social media.

As a networking forum for partnerships, steadily increasing representation from strong and profitable companies and faculty members who are at the top of their games.

Says founder Berny Dohrmann: “When business owners come together in cooperation, business accelerates like nothing else in the world.”

2. The Gathering of Games. In 2017, this practitioner-led conference drew some 700 participants together to learn and share best practices in open-book management. Topics include information sharing, business and financial literacy training, employee empowerment, leadership development and help in creating a culture of ownership. Attendees range from long-term practitioners to “tire kickers” looking to see if the management practice is a good fit for their business. “We make this event highly interactive, with lots of opportunities for networking and idea sharing,” said Conference Coordinator Kristi Stringer. Attendees are typically the owners, upper management and board members of the companies they represent, along with front-line employees and middle managers. Participating companies include grocery chain H-E-B, American Electric Power, Missouri Southern State University, VanBelle Nursery, Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, Greene County, Missouri, Kiolbassa Provision Company and Goodall Homes.

Sessions focus on skills such as

How to think and act like owners

How to promote continuous learning at every level of the organization

How to fire up employees’ competitive juices

How to broaden the concept of leadership

How to delegate responsibility for the business

How to drive innovation and build value in the business

How to improve financial results for the company and themselves

The 2018 program will be September 5-7 at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. As to how the program has worked out for participants, here are some of the things 2017 attendees had to say:

“Seriously the best conference I have been to in a long time. So well organized and thoughtful, with useful content & an engaging community.” – Julie Poulos, Red Caffeine Marketing

“Life changing! So much stuff to take home and to work.” – Simon Janhunen, Able Dental Group

“More small businesses would benefit from learning these practices and methods from some of the best doing it.” – Dallan Guzinski, NCEO

3. No Longer Virtual (NLV). In 2017 I mentioned this emerging program as an honorable mention as the pilot project of PR and Communications expert Sarah Elkins, from Helena, Montana. The premier event in February was an outstanding success, leading to near-full pre-registration for the February 2018 event (the program accommodates just 50 attendees).

“No Longer Virtual is about leveraging our online connections to improve our offline lives,” Elkins says. “It will not include keynote speakers. Instead, it's a cohesive curriculum of two-hour workshops co-facilitated by prominent LinkedIn voices, with intended outcomes and a plan for follow up after the conference.” Readers can learn more about the NLV event here.

The keys to the success of #NLV, according to Elkins, is no keynotes: “The people who attend have experience and knowledge to contribute, so we leverage the experience in the room to benefit everyone.” Participation is good, she notes, but contributing is powerful, with an agenda designed around the theme of leveraging your online network, as an entrepreneur, to improve your offline existence as well.

Sessions include topics such as strategies for connecting beyond the keyboard, engaging content, building your brand across multiple media and platforms, and tips, tools, and strategies for scaling your business.

The best parts of this conference are the spaces between and after events designed for meeting and connection time with other participants and speakers.

Especially key is the "After Conference Hangover"—the discussions, relationships and synergy that continue in the months that follow the actual event. “That's where the magic is,” says Elkins. “It’s in the nurturing and expansion of relationships that originated online into a powerful and life-changing offline network that results from the opportunity to simply meet face-to-face.”

4. The Forbes Under 30 Summit. As a Forbes contributor, many of the questions I get from young entrepreneurs surround what it takes to be considered for the Forbes 30 Under 30 lists.

My answer is always the same: regardless of my opinion, the best way for prospective nominees to prepare is to meet the current honorees and speak to the Forbes teams directly by attending the Under 30 Summit events.

This relatively new event premiered in 2014 and has grown in popularity each year since as a forum that brings in famous and successful young entrepreneurs worldwide. With more than 6,000 attendees in 2017, the event comprises multiple content tracks at locations such as Boston’s Faneuil Hall and MIT. The program includes a music festival, food festival, celebrity entertainment, investors, a day of service and startup competitions.

For a little more perspective I queried two of the 2017 30 Under 30 honorees about the event. Said Candice Galek, Founder of BikiniLuxe: “I attended my first ever Forbes 30 Under 30 conference in 2017 after making the list. It was in Boston, and I didn't really know what to expect. I attended by myself, with the goal of making new connections and friends along the way.”

“The first day I went to the Women at Forbes event, and found the speakers inspiring and relatable.”

“I took the time to mentor a younger attendee and met so many other interesting people, and made friendships that have transcended the event. It's great to support each other, collaborate and bounce ideas off of other entrepreneurs at events like this. Would I go again? Definitely.”

Taylor Freeman, 2017 honoree and cofounder of Upload, Inc., agrees: “The connections there are invaluable. It's super inspiring to be surrounded by pioneers from so many industries. It helped us find some instrumental partners for our emerging VR/AR education platform. Forbes does an incredible job with their entire 30 under 30 initiative.”

5) Small Giants. Of all of the 2018 recommendations, I am particularly excited about this event and plan to attend this year’s proceedings May 15-18 in Detroit as well as the second annual Forbes-partnered event in New York in the Fall.

Authenticity is the theme of the 2018 Small Giants event.SmallGiants.org

This annual summit is a capstone event for the Small Giants program and rotates its location throughout the U.S. (although program coordinator Hamsa Daher notes the first event was in Germany). The audience includes attendees from the U.S. and abroad and includes high-value content and unique social experiences, with a focus on authentic relationship building.

One of the most highly-rated sessions at each Summit is a session called Think Tank. Entrepreneurs are pulled from the audience who are willing to take the stage and pitch a pivotal challenge they’re facing. The attendees “crowd source” their ideas for solutions. The conference follows these participants and publishes the news about how they are coming along in their progress.

This year—the program’s third—will be partnering with again with Forbes as a source of nominations for the Forbes list of Small Giant companies (if you qualify, be sure to submit your nomination for the award before the extended deadline of January 15, 2018). In addition to the Forbes awards and visibility, the conference has been sharing the stories of participating companies throughout the year through all of the companies channels, Daher said.

The 2018 winners will be announced at the May 15-18 conference in Detroit. As before, there will be a Forbes panel that will allow the audience to hear the companies’ tales from their founders.

The sessions at Small Giants are interactive and will include an assortment of “Long Story Shorts”—20 minute TED-style segments to present leadership stories and pivotal moments. The Small Giants program emphasizes the practical side of business with best practice recommendations, nuggets of wisdom, and new resources participants can take away from the show. Evenings are reserved for social events that focus on relationship building and reconnecting with friends.

Entrants can make speaker proposals (if they hurry), but at the time of this posting, the program is 80 percent in place, Daher says. The celebration will continue in New York in October, hosted by Forbes, in which original companies from the Small Giants book will attend along with the 2018 winners.

6. Honorable Mention–The C3 2018 Conference by Conductor, Inc. This relatively new marketing event is from content intelligence firm Conductor, Inc. in New York. The March 7-8 event will be the program’s second annual occurrence and expects to draw 700-800 marketing leaders who will hear from corporate marketing leads from Microsoft, American Eagle, Home Depot, Slack and others. Conductor is a cutting-edge provider of content strategies that are directly correlated to sales and revenue success. If you attend, my own presentation will cover “Influence: How to Get it and Use it for Business in 2018.”

Thanks to all who contributed to this year's entries. Have I included your favorite? If not, feel free to provide additional input in the comment section below.

Information about Cheryl Snapp Conner's Content University program to help businesses and executives tell their stories better is available here.

I am an entrepreneur and communications expert from Salt Lake City and founder of SnappConner PR. I am the author of Beyond PR: Communicate Like A Champ In The Digital Age, available on Amazon. I am co-creator of Content University, which helps entrepreneurs and executives ...